DVD DETECTIVE: ONCE MORE WYLER, ONCE MORE
I now complete my two-part series on that most inscrutable (and under-exposed) of film directors, William Wyler, born in the Alsace region of Germany on July 1st, one hundred and five years ago. Over a film-making career of nearly fifty years, this unassuming, blocky man known as “Willi” steadily churned out a flock of exceptional films that stand the test of time.
This piece addresses Wyler’s best output from the Second World War forward.
Mrs. Miniver (1942)- As war buffets Britain, the upper-middle-class Miniver family, headed by lovely Kay (Greer Garson) and husband Clem (Walter Pidgeon), strive to maintain a normal life, even planning for a local flower competition. Meanwhile, their eldest son, Vin (Richard Ney), romances village beauty Carol (Teresa Wright), despite less-than-ideal circumstances. Even though the air war takes a toll on their village and home, nothing dampens the spirit of this dignified family. Distinguished by superb acting from the leads and Wright (who won an Oscar), Wyler’s glossy, multiple-Oscar-winning homage to the nobility and fortitude of average Britons still feels like a robust, if occasionally over-sentimental, rallying cry. Point is, the film was right for the times. In fact, it was such an exemplary morale booster that Churchill declared it worth six armored divisions. Though his point is now moot, “Miniver” does lavish us with glorious set pieces, like Garson’s kitchen confrontation with a downed German paratrooper, and Henry Wilcoxon’s patriotic speech from a church pulpit, all of it is gorgeously photographed by another Oscar winner, Joseph Ruttenberg. When it comes to grace under fire, there’s nothing like “Mrs. Miniver.”
Next, Wyler joined the Army and helmed several distinguished war documentaries, including one profiling the last flying mission over Germany by the famous B-17 known as the “Memphis Belle” (later the basis of its own movie). When the war was over, the director, now a Lieutenant Colonel, returned stateside to portray with poignant accuracy a new and different post-war America.
The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)- The great Sam Goldwyn (to whom Wyler had been under contract for ten years) produced this first, most ambitious movie about the plight of returning servicemen at the end of the Second War. The film follows the readjustments to civilian life faced by three veterans: Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), an officer coming back to a dead-end job, Al Stephenson (Fredric March), an older soldier returning to family and a stable career, and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), a sailor who lost both his hands in combat. Each character is subtly drawn under Wyler's expert hand, evoking the complex challenges that confront veterans of all ranks. Even with its requisite dose of romance, the film never strays far from its central premise that no matter what you return to in a time of peace, war changes you forever. “Best Years” won Oscars for Picture, Actor (March) and Supporting Actor (Russell, an amputee veteran).
The Heiress (1949)- Socially awkward, plain-looking heiress Catherine Sloper (Olivia De Havilland) wants to marry dashing, penniless suitor Morris Townshend (Montgomery Clift), but her tyrannical widower father (Ralph Richardson), smells a gold-digging rat, and threatens to cut off Catherine’s inheritance if she elopes. Is Dr. Sloper ruining his daughter’s only chance for happiness, or protecting her from a scheming, disingenuous lover? Widely hailed as a masterpiece, and boasting an Oscar-winning performance from De Havilland, Wyler’s powerful and haunting drama was adapted from Henry James’s novel, “Washington Square.” Catherine’s transformation from dutiful and docile daughter into a grown-up who thinks for herself is one of the film’s sublime rewards. Richardson shines, too, as an overbearing man who nevertheless feels conflicted about blocking Catherine’s right to decide her own future. With a splendid score by Aaron Copland, majestic costumes by Edith Head, and Wyler’s mastery of psychological tension, “The Heiress” endures as a Hollywood treasure.
Detective Story (1951)- Over an eventful day in New York’s 21st Precinct, Detective James McLeod (Kirk Douglas), a man of unwavering principle, works over various thugs and thieves with the swaggering confidence of a veteran cop. But his attempts to put away a shady doctor (George Macready) lead him to discover a corrosively painful truth about his wife, Mary (Eleanor Parker). Before “Homicide” or “Hill Street Blues” came this gritty, hard-hitting cop drama based on Sidney Kingsley’s play. Slightly stage-bound but still honed to tense perfection by Wyler, the film is a showcase for fine, colorful ensemble acting by William Bendix (as the no-nonsense lieutenant), a young Lee Grant (reprising her stage role as a mousy shoplifter), Bert Freed (as McLeod’s sensitive partner), and a pre-“Dr. No” Joseph Wiseman (as a hilariously “innocent” Italian burglar). But it’s Douglas’s fierce, tragic performance as a modern lawman who still sees the world in black and white terms that provides the gut-twisting dramatic ironies. Absorbing and devastating, this “Story” gets under your skin and stays there.
Roman Holiday (1953)- In her first prominent film role. Audrey Hepburn plays young Princess Anne, who is visiting Rome, scheduled to the hilt, and tired of being cooped up. So she resolves to sneak off and take an anonymous stroll around the streets of Rome. Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) is the reporter who takes her in for the world's biggest scoop, and inevitably falls for her. Eddie Albert is his photographer friend, who shares Peck's explosive secret. Off-screen, Peck was so convinced Hepburn would win an Oscar, he insisted she share top billing with him, a rare gesture of professional generosity. Of course, the film indeed made Hepburn an overnight star and netted her that Oscar. Not only could she act, but the camera positively loved her. Peck and Albert are in top form, and Wyler's on-location shooting is flavorful and evocative. This “Holiday” is definitely worth taking- and repeating.
Friendly Persuasion (1956)- Jess Birdwell ( Gary Cooper) and his minister wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire) are happily raising their three children in the pacifist, hospitable ways of the Quaker faith. But as the Civil War looms close to home, their eldest son, Josh (Anthony Perkins), joins the Home Guard to defend their community against Rebel raiders, forcing them to examine their faith and conscience. “Persuasion” is a sensitive portrayal of Quaker lifeways with flashes of merry humor, especially around Jess, who can’t resist racing a neighbor’s buggy or the allure of a new pump organ—both frowned upon by his stoic religion. Michael Wilson’s script doesn’t shy from weighing militarism against Christian love, and Wyler’s solid direction of Cooper and McGuire makes their love seem unfailingly genuine. Future “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins also excels as the gangly, intense teen who joins the Union against his parents’ wishes. For a quaint, incisive look at old-time Quaker life, try a bit of “Friendly Persuasion.”
The Big Country (1958)- Former ship captain James McKay (Gregory Peck) heads west to join fiancee Pat Terrill ( Carroll Baker). Though McKay anticipates the rougher ways of frontier life, he gets even more than he bargained for, discovering his future father-in-law, Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford) is in a nasty feud with competing rancher Rufus Hannassey (Burl Ives), and that he himself is competing with Henry’s right hand man and surrogate son, Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) for Pat’s affections. This sprawling, colorful Western epic boasts breathtaking panoramas, a close to three hour run time, and an Oscar-winning turn from singer/actor Ives as the rough-hewn rancher. The movie feels a trifle leisurely at first, but hold on and you’re soon in its grip, with plenty of romance, suspense, and high emotion to go around. The handsome, stolid Peck carries the picture throughout. (Also, look for TV’s Chuck Connors as Ives’s ne’er-do-well son.)
Ben-Hur (1959)- In the first century A.D., as Jesus roams Palestine spreading radical new teachings, Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Heston again) and his family live comfortably in Judea. But when Ben-Hur refuses to assist childhood friend Massala (Stephen Boyd), now an ambitious Roman politician, in rounding up imperial dissidents, Massala frames him for murder. Enslaved on a galley ship, Ben-Hur embarks on a lifelong odyssey of vengeance against his malefactor. One of MGM’s finest widescreen spectacles, involving thousands of extras, over 300 sets (including a life-size replica of a Roman hippodrome) and a cadre of stunt coordinators, this massive production nearly bankrupted its studio. But the payoff was equally grand: Heston’s Oscar-winning performance and a hefty box-office gross validated the costs of operating on a vast canvas. This is epic filmmaking at its finest, featuring a mesmerizing escape at sea and the most thrilling, authentic chariot race ever seen on film—at 20 minutes, no less! Majestic in scale, yet sensitive in portraying a vengeful man touched by his encounters with Christ, “Ben-Hur” is monumental entertainment, directed with faultless taste.
How To Steal A Million (1966)- Master art forger Charles Bonnet ( the peerless Hugh Griffith) is worried his reputation will be tarnished when one of his great works, a “Cellini” sculpture, inadvertently winds up in a Paris museum, subject to expert scrutiny. So his loyal, glamorous daughter Nicole (Audrey Hepburn, reunited with her first mentor one last time) enlists suave thief Simon Dermott ( Peter O’Toole), to help her steal the statue. Only problem is, Dermott’s an undercover detective. The madcap “Million” delivers a delightful romantic comedy and heist picture, all rolled into one. The sprightly Hepburn and debonair O’Toole (in his prime) make a winning duo, but Griffith takes top acting laurels as the shameless, flamboyant, decidedly eccentric Charles.. Expertly directed by Willi (now at retirement age), this remains colorful, diverting fluff of the first order, powered by star wattage and sheer charm.
William Wyler made a few more movies, notably the Best Picture-nominated “Funny Girl” (1968), which propelled singer Barbra Streisand to an Oscar (in an unprecedented tie with Katharine Hepburn), and a successful film career. Along with the creepy but decidedly offbeat “The Collector”(1965), featuring Terence Stamp, “Funny” merits honorable mention among Wyler’s late work, both for its terrific score and incredible set pieces (witness that “Don’t Rain On My Parade” sequence). Still this biography of twenties Ziegfeld comedienne Fanny Brice takes considerable liberties with her real story, and Omar Sharif is simply miscast as Nick Arnstein, Fanny’s gangster lover, as evidenced by a total lack of chemistry between the two leads.
With his health gradually declining through the seventies, William Wyler retired to travel with second wife Margaret, and died as quietly as he had lived, in 1981.
But what a rich store of movie gems he left us.
